Sunday March 3rd 2019 8th Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
The tie in between
today’s readings: Words and Deeds
It is universally
accepted that actions speak louder than words and it is refreshing when we find
people of character that do what they say. All too often, in the general sea of
humanity, however, it’s not the case. It is worse in the church where we announce
to the world our higher moral standard. While we do accomplish good things,
when we come up short society is all too eager to hit us with the hypocrite
hammer. Fair or unfair, I know that a hypocrite lurks deep down inside each of
us and, after studying the Bible; one thing for certain is that God hates a
hypocrite.
The problem with
this play acting is that it is unconscious. Nobody wakes up and says, “Maybe
I’ll commit hypocrisy today.” The hypocrite plays a self-deluded game of “let’s
pretend” and defends himself with denials, deflections, and attacks. Take hypocrisy’s
poster boys, the Pharisees, for example. They were respected, law abiding, and
in their world the righteous descendants of Abraham. They were the good guys!
Yet, when Jesus, the Truth of God personified, calls them out as hypocrites,
they crucify Him. How could people so learned in the scriptures be so wrong?
They were pride blind. Boil down our reading in Luke 6:39-45 and you’ll see
pride as the motivator for the leader, who will not wait for his time to mature
and the moral speck finder, who doesn’t even know himself. In that vein of
thought, I think the scariest parable in the Bible is the Pharisee and the
Publican (Luke 18:9-14). It’s not that the guy with the Theological degree
spouting his goodness was so clueless. What frightens me is that we often see
ourselves as the repented Tax Collector and miss the thrust of the story. The
hypocrite in us will not permit the conclusion that we, in fact, may very well
be the Pharisee!
Jesus once said to
the crowd that you who are evil can give good things (Matthew 7:11). We have to
understand that we are part of that evil crowd. Bad people are not just Hitler,
Al Capone, or the annoying neighbor down the street. Guilty of one sin is
guilty of all and all have sinned! That’s why we need a Savior. When we come to
Jesus in faith for the forgiveness and receive our new nature it is only the
beginning. The church, in essence, is the family of God and as a family each
individual member is at a different stage of development. We and The Holy
Spirit have our work cut out to make us more like Jesus in this life. It’s a
growth process with advances and setbacks. We have baggage. Upbringing, habits,
and our lifestyle have to be scrutinized and conformed to the Bible. This takes
humility and it’s hard. Pretending to each other that we are farther along the
piety road than we really are is just dumb. That is our hypocrisy. We should
stop. Let’s admit that we are struggling to become the people God wants us to
be. The Apostle Paul owned his failures. Peter had to be taken to task over
backsliding into legalism. The early church contended with social favoritism,
drunkenness, and false-face love. What makes us think that we are any better than
they? It may be time to trade in our pride, embrace the truth about our sin
failing selves, and in the process, maybe gain a little respect from those
around that can see right through us.
So, what now? Slap on a bumper sticker that says, “Christians
are not perfect, just forgiven.” and call it a day? Hardly. We need to run the
race set before us. We treat God’s Word as a mirror to our souls and honestly
deal with the smudges on our faces. Fill our thoughts with heavenly
perspective, so that it comes out even in our speech (Sirach 27:4-7, Psalm
92:2-3; 13-16). When we fall, and we will...Get up! Forget what’s behind and
press toward the high calling of Jesus and be confident in Him who began the
good work of salvation in us will complete it. God gives us the victory through
Jesus. Therefore, be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your toil in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians
15:57-58). The world will know you by your works and glorify God, not you. That’s
the way it should be.
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